Bridget did not tell her son and so Eveleen had a few days’ grace to think and to plan. Nottingham, she decided. There would be work there. Now that both she and Jimmy could operate frames, she was sure that there would be work in the hosiery industry for them. Somehow she would have to take a day off from work to go to the city. But it was going to be difficult to explain her absence to her uncle. The solution came from an unexpected quarter. ‘She is, isn’t she?’ The very next morning, Andrew was waiting for her as she went to work, barring her way up the staircase until she answered him. Eveleen nodded, miserably. ‘I could break ’is neck,’ the lad muttered, and Eveleen believed that if her brother had been there at that moment, Andrew would have done just that. ‘What are you going to do, ’cos he’ll throw you out, once he knows.’ ‘I know,’ Eveleen whispered hoarsely, aware that Andrew was now referring to her uncle.
